Chinese kung fu stars, these kung fu stars are not only men, but also a large number of women.
Counting the kung fu actresses produced in China over the years, Hui Yinghong, Yang Lijing, Hu Huizhong, Li Saifeng, Oshima Yugali...
In recent years, the most successful and most prosperous is Yang Ziqiong.
Think of when Yang Ziqiong wore 44.5 carat diamond jewelry to walk the Red Carpet of Cannes, was chased by foreign media to shoot, the limelight simply overwhelmed Fan Bingbing Ah Youmu You!
Although the most famous, but Yang Ziqiong's kung fu is actually not as good as Zheng Peipei, if you want to give the Chinese screen "hit women" a ranking, Zheng Peipei can at least rank in the top two.
However, the one we want to mention today, although she is not mixed with the entertainment circle, she is recognized by the kung fu industry as "the strongest martial artist among Chinese women", and she has also cultivated the most capable male star in today's entertainment circle - Zhen Zidan, she is Zhen Zidan's mother, a generation of Tai Chi master Mai Baocia.
Mai Baochan was born in Yintang Village, Duhu Town, Taishan, since childhood with her family moved to Guangzhou, her father, uncle are martial arts enthusiasts, hearing that Mai Baochan also likes to make a stick with a martial arts gun, first learn long fist swordplay, Mai Baochan This kind of early wisdom has attracted the attention of the famous master Fu Yonghui ↓. Mr. Fu's father was Fu Zhensong, a bagua master, one of the legendary Five Tigers of the North and the founder of the Central Guoshu Museum in Nanjing.
Fu Pai Wugong encompasses the three Neijia Kung Fu (Taijiquan, Bagua Palm, and Shape Yi Quan) in Chinese boxing, as well as the Wudang Sword. Fu Yonghui is best at slow pedaling legs, and slow leg kicking has high requirements for the waist and the stability of the legs: "Often go to bumpy places to practice offensive and defensive techniques at night when you can't see your fingers, so as to exercise the stability of the center of gravity in the midst of great turbulence; in order to train the shoulders to be loose, often fly up and down like the wings of a bird for more than a thousand times; and often hang a bucket of water on the outstretched hand to practice gossip walking." ”
When Mai Baocia was born, Fu Yonghui evaluated her as "an apprentice who has learned all I have" and "can truly become my successor".
In the 1960s, Mai Baocia met Zhen Yunlong, a "fellow countryman" born in Taishan, in Guangzhou, zhen Yunlong was only a member of the South China Song and Dance Troupe at this time, but he was versatile and could also play violin and erhu and other instruments. The two quickly came together after meeting. Zhen Zidan was born on July 27, 1963.
Because he hoped that Zhen Zidan would one day become his successor, Mai Baocia urged him to practice, stretch and press his legs from an early age. Zhen Zidan once laughed and said: I have known for a long time that I am a "talent for practicing martial arts."
During this period, a "kung fu fever" was set off overseas, and there were many magazines in Hong Kong that specialized in publishing "kung fu", and newspapers also set up special columns to introduce them. In Hong Kong, Mak Wasa began to emerge in the martial arts world, responsible for martial arts teaching and training on the one hand, and compiling monographs on the other hand, and Mak Was the first to publish a book on the integrated tai chi routine. Mak Po Chan's fame in Hong Kong's martial arts community has gradually risen, and she has appeared on the cover of Hong Kong's "Kung Fu" and "New Wuxia".
In 1975, Zhen Yunlong and Mai Baochan's family decided to immigrate to the United States to carry forward the traditional Chinese martial arts culture and make a career. After a year of preparation, Mak founded the Institute of Chinese Martial Arts in Boston. However, soon after the opening of the martial arts center, there were some good people who made trouble for no reason. Zhen Yunlong told reporters that the difficulties encountered when he initially immigrated to the United States were also the motivation for him to establish the Asian American Friendship Association later, "One purpose is to help the new compatriots adapt to the new environment as soon as possible." At the same time, Mak Po Chan beckoned students, taught kung fu, and set up a special martial arts performance team.
But at this time, traditional martial arts were gradually transforming from an extant museum of ancient fighting skills into a dizzying array of high-physical sports. Mak decided to build a bridge between traditional kung fu and new martial arts. So in 1981, she began learning swordsmanship, tai chi and pushing with Li Tianji (Li was one of the leaders of the new school of martial arts, and had been in charge of the development of the 24-style taijiquan and 32-style taijiquan competition procedures, both of which are daily sports for millions of people).
In 1984, Mak won the gold medal in the first International Taijiquan (Sword) Competition in Wuhan, China.
Digression: In 1985, when she participated in the first International Wushu Invitational Tournament in Xi'an, she met Zhao Changjun, the current head coach of the Shaanxi Provincial Wushu Corps, and Zhao Changjun won the four gold medals in long fist, knife skill, stick art and personal all-around in one go. (The red dress in the middle is Zhao Changjun)
After Mai Baochan returned to the United States, she considered us three and wrote a long letter to Zhao Changjun, hoping that her son Zhen Zidan could worship Zhao Changjun as a teacher. In the end, the leader of Zhao Changjun's professional team decided to take Zhen Zidan under his command. As the first American student of the professional team, Zhen Zidan also enjoyed a lot of "special treatment": for example, he was not arranged to live in the athletes' dormitory, but let him live in the Shaanxi Sports Hotel not far from the training hall; he was accustomed to Eating Western food, and he was not accustomed to the noodles that Shaanxi people loved and the big fish and meat of the sports team, and for a while he often had a stomach, so the canteen master Fu made halal meals for him every day, mainly light, and did not want to eat fruit and yogurt; in order to prevent being disturbed when eating, He also specially circled the table where he was eating with a screen. In the middle of the picture below is Zhao Changjun.
After a period of time, Zhen Zidan still could not adapt to the eating habits of northwestern people, and went to the "Xi'an Jinhua Hotel" to eat Western food every three to five minutes. The "Golden Flower Hotel" was the only five-star hotel in Xi'an at that time, and only this hotel served authentic Western food. The Jinhua Hotel had a piano at that time, and Zhen Zidanmao volunteered to play the piano for an hour, and the lobby manager managed a buffet for free and reimbursed him for the round-trip taxi fare. At this point, Zhen Zidan could be regarded as the team grass of the Shaanxi Provincial Martial Arts Corps at that time.
In 1986, Mak began working as a martial arts teacher in the Physical Education Department at Boston University, teaching martial arts and tai chi. In the 1980s, foreigners were quite obsessed with Chinese martial arts, and now they are. Since Mabel went to teach at Boston University, martial arts began to become an official physical education course with credits in American universities.
In 1992, Mabel was invited to teach in the drama department of Harvard University, and she began to create boldly beyond tradition. She combined martial arts and operas such as "White Snake Three Thieves Immortal Grass", "Monkey King Worship Guanyin", and "Zhaojun Out of the Plug" into martial arts dramas; combined the Wudang Sword Method with the music of "Yangguan Three Stacks" to create a set of Wudang Sword Dance; and also integrated Taijiquan and Ribbon Dance into Tai Chi Ribbon Dance, allowing people to look at Chinese martial arts with a new eye. This Chinese woman, who is only a meter and a half tall, has cultivated countless "martial arts masters".
In 1990, the National Chinese Wushu Federation was founded, and Mak Wascha was one of the three founders. McBulerson was invited to teach at many places, including at Harvard University. Mak Po Chan's teaching style is smooth, comfortable and elegant.
In 1995, Mak and her students won a huge victory in the world's largest kung fu championship, the World Wushu Championship.
In the same year, the first Mak Po Chan Tai Chi Martial Arts Association was established in Boston, USA. Three years later, 12 Mak Po Chan Tai Chi Martial Arts Associations spread across Eurasia and The Americas, and Mak Po Chan was named Black Belt Magazine Martial Artist of the Year.
Mai Baochan brought an unknown number of students in her life, except for Zhen Zidan, her daughter Zhen Zijing is also a master. Zhen Zijing was born in 1974, learned martial arts at the age of four, and in 1985, at the age of 11, she won the third place in the women's all-around of the first International Wushu Invitational Tournament and the bronze medal for women's long fist. After performing in several films in Hong Kong, she has been favored by many film and television dramas in the United States, and she is now developing in the United States.
Probably because of practicing martial arts, Zhen Zijing, who is now 43 years old, looks like a little girl. Tai Chi pays attention to the balance of yin and yang, and Mai Baochan, who has been practicing Tai Chi for a long time, now looks like in addition to her gray hair, her face still looks quite tight.
Today's Mai Baochan has not appeared in public, this year's Mother's Day, Zhen Zidan has publicly taken a photo with her mother Mai Baochan on her Weibo, and Mai Baochan looks quite spirited.
Zhen Zidan is an internationally renowned movie star, but about his mother, a petite woman of only 150 centimeters, although she is strong in martial arts and has made great contributions to the development of martial arts, few people know her. I wonder if there will be a director who will be willing to put her story on the screen that day?